CHAPTER FOUR
Naruto looked throughout the council room with amusement. After a particularly funny and tense meeting at the docks, the elders along with both councils demanded that Naruto stand before a council meeting. That's how he found himself along with Kurama standing there while looking at the various men and women that were arguing with each other.
It only took about two minutes before the council room descended into utter chaos. The civilian council argued that Naruto was in violation of his exile and should be executed without remorse. Some on the shinobi council agreed with the civilian side. There were only a few people who supported him, all of which he could count with one hand. Chief among those in his camp was the blonde-haired Hokage, Tsunade Senju. Naruto eyed the woman as she argued in his support while saying that Konoha needed his fleet of it wanted to break the blockade that surrounded their lands.
Kurama turned her head and stared at Naruto with her own amused smile. Oh, how she loathed both sides of the council. She witnessed them when she was sealed inside her previous jailer, Kushina Uzumaki. This lot was a pitiful bunch if she was being truly honest with herself. She wondered why Hiruzen Sarutobi allowed them to grow more powerful under his reign while doing nothing to curtail their growing power, and from what she saw now? Tsunade had all but given up on caring about what the council did.
"We can't let the demon work for us!" One of the members of the civilian council shouted from her seated position on the civilian side of the council room. The woman sported a hair that was styled in a bun; the awful color of dark pink in invaded everyone's vision. The woman was huffing in and out as if imaginary steam was being blown off her ears.
"Agreed! We kicked him out for a bloody reason, why the fuck is that demon brat back in our village!?" Another member of the civilian council shouted in support of the pink-haired woman. The man looked similar to the woman emotion wise. His face flushed with anger. Naruto stood silently with a small smile on his face, amused.
After the two civilian council members voiced their opinion, their side of the two chamber council erupted into multiple shouts and screams. Most were for the Hokage to execute the demon brat while others were demanding for the Hokage to forcefully expel the pirate. Tsunade had her closed with her hands folded together in front of her face, one of her eyes twitching while closed. The blond woman looked quite annoyed.
Both Kurama and Naruto couldn't blame the woman. If this was what she had to deal with whenever she had to attend council meetings, both Kurama and Naruto would've murdered them by now.
"Enough" Shouted Tsunade. The civilian side of the council quickly went silent. Tsunade opened both her eyes and made a gesture with two of her fingers, "I'm this close to murdering you people."
At this threat, several of the council members turned paper white. Some of them stuttered out apologies while some of the members directed glares of hatred and disgust at the pirate pair. This only made Naruto raise an eyebrow. They are certainly brave, not for lack of trying, thought Naruto.
"I have decided to hire the Pirate King known as Naruto Uzumaki," stated Tsunade. She gave a look at the civilian side as if daring them to speak. "Since our fleet has mostly been destroyed by a mercenary pirate known as Kyoshi, a blockade was set up for the past few months by our enemies. The first task that I'm going to assign him is the break the blockade so that much-needed supplies can finally start making its way through to Konoha again," Tsunade finished.
Naruto wasn't surprised at his first mission even though he wasn't consulted about it. Granted he did just arrive in Konoha and he assumed that Tsunade was in a hurry to use her newly acquired fleet. Breaking the blockade was indeed the prudent thing to do, otherwise, Konoha would slowly continue to starve until the village either surrendered or was conquered.
"Is that wise?" A voice asked that broke Naruto out of his thoughts. He turned his head to the voice and frowned at the sight of Koharu Utatane. The sickly sweet voice that he had remembered long ago when she was involved in his banishment. He had always hated the old woman and had hoped that she would die of old age while he was in his exilement, but unfortunately, life wasn't that gifting when it came to him.
"Giving that kind of power to a…pirate," The woman said with a thinly veiled disdain. Naruto chuckled quite openly which attracted turned heads. Koharu pursed her lips and glared at Naruto which only made the blond chuckle quite loudly. Naruto stopped when Tsunade decided to cough to bring the council back on track.
"What are your demands, Naruto?" the blonde Hokage asked. Naruto merely tapped his chin for a few seconds.
"Hmm, what do I want? Should I go for money? Ask for Koharu, Danzo, and Homura perhaps for their obvious injustice that was done to me?"
Several of the council members openly growled at the blond pirate while the three Konoha elders narrowed their eyes at such a suggestion. It was true that they fabricated evidence and testimony to finally get rid of the demon for the betterment of Konoha and her people. Danzo took the opportunity to seal Naruto's chakra but he lied to everyone about the severity of said seals. These were permanent. Naruto was no longer able to use his chakra aside for the small amount of Kyuubi chakra that still resided within him but even these paled in comparison to his large chakra reserves that he once had.
And Naruto knew this with the way he was staring at Danzo as if to say, I know what you did. Danzo remained unmoved, openly glaring at the man with narrowed eyes.
"What do you think, Kurama?" Naruto asked the red-haired woman who was so far quiet.
"Oh we're definitely asking for money," she replied with a toothy grin, "a whole lot of money."
"How much," came the cold voice of Danzo. Naruto once again tapped his chin in curiosity.
"Over 100 million Ryo should right about do it to acquire my services," Naruto said. The council stayed silent at the sheer amount of money the pirate was requesting. The room stayed like this before the council room descended into absolute chaos again. The civilian council shouted and yelled while gesturing at Naruto while others shouted threats.
"Quiet!" Tsunade once again yelled making the council room shut up again. Tsunade huffed and looked at her surrogate son, "you will have it," she said. The entirety of the civilian council looked at their Hokage with wide eyes.
"Anything else?" Tsunade continued.
"I want my parent's inheritance," demanded Naruto quite coldly.
"No," immediately came the voice of all three elders. Some members of the shinobi side of the council looked at Naruto and the elders with curiosity. Why did the Konoha elders want to deny the man his inheritance? Staying with that fact, wasn't Naruto an orphan? some members of the shinobi council asked themselves.
"Who are your parents?" Tsume Inuzka asked with a tilted head, finally joining in the negotiation.
"They were-"
"We said no," Koharu cut the blond off with a voice of finality. Naruto raised an eyebrow. They were quite insistent on keeping the knowledge of his parents a secret to the rest of the members of both councils.
"Unfortunately, you don't get to decide that," Naruto stated with a smug smile while giving Tsunade a look. All three elders glared at their Hokage while shaking their head. Konoha needed that large inheritance for the betterment of the Village and not some pirate who would squander it as a pirate would.
"You'll have it," Tsunade agreed while nodding her head.
"No he won't," the three Elders continued with their orders. Danzo made a small gesture with his hand and immediately the room was filled with ANBU with a certain symbol on their masks. Tsunade's eyes widened at their intrusion. Were the three elders really going to deny her order with force simply because of who Naruto's parents were?
"I was wondering when they were finally going to make their move," said Kurama with a bored tone. This only made Danzo's lone eye twitch with annoyance. His Root ANBU was known for their stealth and for this…woman to sense them quite easily made him mentally glare at the red-haired woman. It would seem this group of ANBU would have to be executed if they indeed lived this confrontation.
"You sensed them too huh?" Naruto whispered. Kurama nodded and placed her hand on the handle of her sword that was strapped to her hip.
"What is the meaning of this, Danzo!" shouted Tsunade as she swiftly got up from her seat at the end of the table and glared at the man. Danzo merely sat and looked at the woman with his lone eye.
"We have ordered that the pirate's parents not be revealed. You will comply with that order."
"You are not Hokage here, Danzo!" Tsunade once again shouted, "ANBU!" she shouted. Several ANBU quickly appeared. Some had kunais in their hands while others had swords or tantos, ready to fight. Danzi growled at the defiance of the Hokage.
"Tsunade," Koharu's sweetly sick voice resonated through the room, "there's no need for violence here. You just have to obey us this one time."
"No need for violence?" Tsunade repeated, "you three are the ones who initiated this. I will not have you jeopardize the acquisition of the pirate king just because of this!"
Koharu shook her head sadly, "Then violence it is then."
One of the Root ANBU swiftly ran across the wood table at Tsunade with a kunai in head ready to thrust the tool into the heart of the Hokage. By the time Tsunade could even respond, the masked attacker was already upon her. The Root ANBU quickly thrust the kunai at the heart of the woman.
Only for the hand of the Root ANBU to smack the floor with an audible thud. Next to Tsunade stood Naruto with his sword unsheathed and a dark look on his face. The Root ANBU was about to respond before he was beheaded by the sword of Kurama who appeared behind the masked attacker.
"Tsk. To openly attack your Hokage…that is treason honorable elders," Naruto mocked the trio. A spraying sound resonated throughout the room immediately which drew the attention of all those present. Every single Root ANBU laid on the floor with their head cut off while their neck sprayed blood throughout the floor. Behind these bodies stood Kurama with a feral grin on her face while she licked the blood off her sword.
Danzo's lone eye widened at the swift dispatching of his forces. Naruto winked with his right eye in Kurama's direction which Kurama returned with a smile. Naruto sheathed his sword and cracked his neck.
"Well, that was quite easy. I heard so much of this Root ANBU, about how tough and cold they are. An 'elite' force," chuckled Naruto, "Not that elite to be honest. I don't know why Hiruzen was even about your little group, Danzo."
The said man stood up from his seat and glared at the blond pirate, "This isn't over, Uzumaki," he said before taking his leave. Tsunade leaned into the ear of one of her ANBU and quietly whispered an order. The masked man nodded then disappeared from the room.
"Now, does anyone want to question me?" The Hokage said sweetly. Most, if not all of the civilian council members were sweating bullets while the shinobi council stayed as they were. Aside from the swift end of the Root ANBU, it was quite predictable what the outcome would be. At least for Shikaku, it was.
Naruto pushed the headless body off the wood table and sat down in its spot, a smile on his face. "Now, we can continue negotiations."
Two Hours Later
Naruto and Kurama calmly back to the docks, both had small smiles on their face at what they had just negotiated. More than 100 million Ryo as payment, his parent's inheritance, and full autonomy when it came to naval matters, along with other minor concessions on Konoha's part. Kurama and Naruto had just negotiated what was probably the best deal they could have asked for.
Naruto continued to walk calmly towards his flagship once they made it to the docks until he could see Konoha 11 arguing with several of his pirates outside his flagship. Naruto frowned at the sight. He wasn't expecting to meet them this soon, maybe within the next couple of days but not now. Kurama mimicked Naruto and frowned herself, she turned her head and gave Naruto a look as if asking if she should handle this. The blond Pirate King shook his head.
"We want to see him, now!" Sakura shouted at one of the pirates once Naruto came within earshot. Several of Konoha 11 grunted in agreement. The pirates growled at the group with their hands on their swords.
"Fuck off already. You don't command us."
Sakura sneered, "You work for us now! Of course, we command you, now step aside or I will report you to the council and have you executed!" the pink-haired girl threatened.
"You will do no such thing," Naruto stated darkly once he was close enough. The entire group turned their bodies to face him and their eyes widened at the sight of the former Konoha-nin. Some had smiles while others were indifferent.
"Naruto! It's good to see you," said Ino excitedly.
Naruto frowned, "Really? Last time I remember you, you were screaming at me for hurting your precious Uchiha."
This made Ino flinched. Over the years she grew up from that scrawny fangirl that she used to be and saw the error of her ways. She was disgusted at herself for the way she treated Naruto and the way she treated everyone else when it came to Sasuke Uchiha. She wanted to apologize to Naruto years later but she had no way of contacting him since he disappeared off the face of the map.
"You will let us on board or else," Sakura shouted. Naruto was amused. It seemed that Sakura didn't grow up the way Ino did based off the way the blond Yamanaka flinched at his words. It was typical Sakura, always the fangirl.
"That's a nice joke, really," laughed Naruto while he wiped an imaginary tear. Sakura flushed red with anger and stomped up the pirate with a sneer on her face. "You will let us on board. We command you now. You are under our employ. You will follow my orders or I will report you to the council."
"Council this, council that," Naruto waved his hand in dismissal, "fuck the council I say. A bunch of useless old people who're past their prime," insulted Naruto, "just like your mother."
This made Sakura's sneer even more pronounced. She drew her fist back ready to punch Naruto only to be dragged to the floor, both her hands behind her back while Naruto sat on it. He placed his sword on the pink-hard woman's neck while he leaned in beside her ear.
"You don't order me around. You never will. Go to your council if you want to, and if they order me around instead then I'll simply kill them."
"Let me go, demon," got out Sakura. Naruto tsk'd. Naruto stood up and placed his right foot on her back, grabbed both her arms and pulled. A sickening crunch was audibly heard along with Sakura's painful screams. Naruto let go of the girl's arms then spit on her body.
"I don't even know why I had a crush on you. Fuck, you're sickening," cringed Naruto. He turned towards the Konoha 11 and scowled, "That goes for all of you. Stay the fuck out of my way. If you don't, I'll fucking kill you."
All of Konoha 11 paled at the threat. They swiftly nodded knowing he truly meant his words. Naruto turned back to Sakura who was laying there on the wooden dock, crying. "Kurama, take her to the hospital. She's learned her lesson. Hopefully."
Kurama scowled, "Really, boss? Do I seriously have to take her? Why not just take her out to the woods and slit her throat?"
"And kill a Konoha kunoichi this early into our employment?" Naruto questioned while he shook his head, "All in due time, dear."
Kurama groaned but nodded nonetheless. The red-haired woman picked up Sakura then disappeared in a fire spiral. It wasn't even day two of staying in this wretched village and he already hated staying her. Hopefully, going out to sea and breaking the Kumo-Iwa blockade would satiate his hunger for killing since he had to deny himself to kill the pink-haired banshee.
Several coughs from Konoha 11 broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw them all staring at him expectantly. He raised an eyebrow, "What? You fuckers aren't getting on my ship."
Ino along with Hinata and some others cringed at the use of foul language but nodded. Naruto had changed, and it seemed it wasn't for the better. He didn't come and willingly help Konoha, only the offer of money enticed him. Several of Konoha 11 looked at the blond sadly, it would seem his will of fire was no longer there, they thought.
Naruto walked onto his flagship and ignored Konoha 11 willingly. He felt the wind next to him pick up, he didn't need to look to know that it was Kurama returning from dumping the pink-haired bitch at the hospital.
"Start the undocking process, Kurama. We have a blockade to break and people to murder."
"Finally," replied Kurama with a feral grin, "we get to kill some people."
There's chapter 4! Tell me how what you thought about it! There was someone saying no Hinata pairing and don't worry, there won't be any. I'm not a fan of that pairing. I don't know who Naruto will be paired with in this story to be honest, it's too early to tell at the moment. Maybe Kurama. Idk.